Welcome to
The Dummy Dinosaur
A children’s story and accompanying colouring book created by Susanna Smith, a UK-based Speech and Language Therapist.
The books are aimed at young children to gently support them in giving up their dummy, while supporting speech sounds through play.
Meet
The Dummy Dinosaur
While searching for some tasty leaves, the lovable, docile dinosaur discovers the most beautiful leaves of all in the Yah-Yah treetop village.
Unable to resist, he begins munching away, putting the village at risk.
To protect their homes, the clever Yah-Yahs think fast and come up with an alternative, a satisfying substitute to gently distract the Dummy Dinosaur and keep his mind off their delicious leaves.
Meet
The Yah-Yahs
Tiny, forest-dwelling creatures who live high in the treetops and protect their village together.
Quick-thinking and brave, they find a way to protect their home when the Dummy Dinosaur’s love of leaves puts their tree-top village at risk.
Following the bravery of one little Yah-Yah, they hatch a clever, heroic plan and discover that even the Dummy Dinosaur cannot resist a good dummy!
Speech Sound
Colouring Book
The colouring book has been carefully designed to support children’s speech sound development in a fun, engaging, and meaningful way.
Each page features the Dummy Dinosaur or the Yah-Yahs performing actions linked to a specific speech sound.
The colouring book supports speech sound practice using British English phonemes, making it most suitable for UK English–speaking children.
All sounds can be practised in a variety of ways:
In isolation — using the sound on its own (e.g., “ssss”)
With actions — acting out feelings and events within the pictures (e.g., pretending to deflate like a broken dummy, "sssssss" — floppy, deflating actions).
Within the text — the reader can emphasise the target speech sounds at word-initial, medial, and final positions
(e.g., “silly Dummy Dinosaur has bitten a hole through his second dummy. He looks sad.”)
A simple guide at the beginning of the colouring book helps adults guide children’s attention to how sounds are made, focusing on mouth movements and how parts of the mouth work together to produce different speech sounds.
Let the Dummy Dinosaur and the Yah-Yahs lead the way as your child roars, sings, and stomps their way through speech sounds through play.
About the Author
Susanna Smith is a highly specialised Speech and Language Therapist with over 20 years’ experience supporting young children with speech, language, and communication needs.
One day, The Dummy Dinosaur popped into her head, and she knew his story needed to be shared with children who were ready to take that brave step.
The story is accompanied by a playful colouring book, designed to revisit the adventure while supporting speech sound practice through movement, sound-focused activities, and colouring in familiar scenes from the story.
The Yah-Yahs were inspired by the many children Susanna has worked with who used the word “Yah-Yah” to label something (or someone!) they loved deeply, whether a sibling, a pet, or their dummy.
Through the Dummy Dinosaur, Susanna supports children's speech development and courage to let go of their dummy in a fun and empowering way.
About the Illustrator
All pictures within the story book and colouring book have been wonderfully created by the very talented Ana. K. Quintero
Thank you brave hero!
Official Bravery Certificate
Celebrate your child's brave goodbye to their dummy with a special downloadable certificate.